Inflatable umbrella



March 25, 1958 IN VEN TOR.

Emil Plat%h'e A TTORNEY United States Patent INFLATABLE liJlt BRELLAEmil Platzlre, Minneapolis, Minn. Application September 17, 1956, SerialNo. 610,056 2 Claims. c1. lee-20 My present invention relates broadly tothe field of umbrellas or portable weather shields and, moreparticularly, to an inflatable umbrella that may be quickly and easilyinflated or deflated and which, when not in use, is capable of beingstored in a minimum amount of space such as a purse, pocket or the glovecompartment of an automobile.

The principal object of this invention is to provide an inflatableumbrella capable of being inflated by mouth or by an integral handactuated pump and quickly deflated for storage by manually controlledmeans.

Another object of this invention is to provide an inflatable umbrella inwhich its shield portion may be transparent, opaque, and colordecorated.

Another object of this invention is to provide an inflatable umbrellahaving a depending drip shield adjacent the handle member to shield thehand and arm supporting the umbrella from water run-ofl from the mainshield portion.

A further object of the invention is to provide an inflatable umbrellahaving a relatively short depending handle member which may also serveas a pump housing when such is provided.

These and other objects will become apparent from the followingspecification, claims and appended drawings which form a part of thisapplication and in which like characters indicate like parts throughoutthe several views.

Referring to the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of the umbrella inflated for use;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken along line Z--2 of Fig. l, and Fig. 3is a plan view of the umbrella inflated for use.

The numeral 4 indicates a relatively large and sec tionally narrowannular tubular inflatable ring having direct communication with adepending supporting handle member 5.

The handle member 5 is tubular and of materially heavier constructionthan the annular ring 4 and, while it is in communication with thesupporting air column, its inherent rigidity greatly facilitates itssupporting capabilities. It will be understood that the handle member 5may also serve as a pump chamber for a simple air pump mechanism 6provided for the inflation of the annular ring member 4.

To afford means for oral inflation of the annular ring 4, I have furtherprovided a simple air valve 7 which is inserted in the lower surface ofthe annular ring 4 which, by manual manipulation, will hold the airpressure in the annular ring 4 at the desired point and conversely,release said air pressure to atmosphere, thereby deflating the inflatedmembers. It will also be further understood that the valve 7 is alsoused in combination with the hand pump 6 wherein it is closed while thering 4is inflated and opened to deflate the same.

It has not been thought necessary to show and describe the pump andvalve mechanism 6 and 7, respec tively, as both are strictlyconventional and commercially available, no invention whatsoever beinginvolved.

A weather shield 3 is bonded to the upper surface portion of the annularring 4 by suitable process as may be dictated by the type of materialbeing used and is drawn to proper tautness by the inflation of theannular ring 4. For the purpose of this application, this weather shield4 will be described and considered as of transparent synthetic materialfor the reason that one of the prime advantages of my novel umbrella isthe fact that its transparent shield aflords vision therethrough,thereby presenting a safety factor not found in conventional umbrellas.It will be understood that this weather shield 8 may be provided in amulitude of colors and patterns as can the annular ring 4, eitheridentical the one with the other or in contrast, butobviously byrendering the same opaque by color the purpose of the transparentfeature is defeated.

Attached to the upper surface of the annular ring 4 and extending aroundthe periphery thereof, equidistant either side of the handle member 5,is a semicircular drip shield 9 that depends loosely from its bondedupper edge portion downwardly to a point below the lower end portion ofthe handle member 5. It will be obvious that this drip shield 9 willdirect water run-01f from the weather shield 8, outside the hand and thesleeve of a person supporting the umbrella by the handle member 5. Thisdrip shield 59 is preferably made of the same material as the weathershield 8 and if so dictated by manufacturing processes, said drip shieldmay be an integral part of the main body portion of the weather shield8.

While there are herein disclosed but a limited number of embodiments ofthe structure, process and product of the invention herein presented, itis possible to produce still other embodiments without departing fromthe inventive concept herein disclosed, and it is desired, therefore,that only such limitations be imposed on the appended claims as arestated herein or required by the prior art.

What I claim is:

1. In a device of the class described, a horizontally disposed annulartubular collapsible ring, a handle in communication with the ring andnormally closed to atmosphere, 2. crushable shield fixed at itsperimeter to the ring throughout its entire circumference and in a planewith the top of the ring, valve means in the ring by which air underpressure is introduced into said ring to inflate the same and therebyextend the shield to its desired tautness and maintain said pressureuntil manually released, a loosely depending drip shield fixed at itsupper edge portion to the ring at the perimeter of the shield andextending equidistant either side of the handle about the perimeter ofthe ring.

I 2. In a device of the class described, a horizontally disposed annulartubular collapsible ring, a handle in communication with the ring andnormally closed to atmosphere, a crushable shield fixed at its perimeterto the ring throughout its entire circumference and in a plane with thetop of the ring, valve means in the ring by which air under pressure isintroduced into said ring to inflate the same and thereby extend theshield to its desired tautness and maintain said pressure until manuallyreleased, a loosely depending drip shield formed integral with the mainbody portion of the shield and overlying the handle member and extendingequidistant either side thereof about the perimeter of the ring.

References Cited in the file of this patent FOREIGN PATENTS

